How North Carolinians are Redefining Comedy

The breadth of North Carolina’s current comedy influence is not immediately obvious—in part because the work of these writers and actors is unlike Southern humor of the past. But their work is nonetheless rooted in a storytelling tradition particular to their region. As Anthony King, who grew up in Durham, told me, “The Blue Collar Comedy thing is exploiting broad stereotypes of Southerners, but the Emily Spivey/Eastbound brand of comedy is more focused on how complex, nuanced, and hypocritical people really are. That focus on character feels like a truly Southern thing to me—going back to classic Southern literature like Faulkner or Flannery O’Connor. There’s a fascination with broken people.”